Nick Moore | Wednesday, 2 February 2022
Working on my single handed carry has been the main reason why my distances have increased. A fellow caster advised me to make some shooting heads for practice, not to throw, but to practice carry. My current shooting head is 65’ and is made from an old Barrio GT125 with some very thin mono as the shooting line (which can be used to practice and get the feel of the 170.
Before I start practicing, I lay out the tape and walk half way down it so I can sight my back cast target. I also turn round and see what’s in front, so I can line the two targets up. This is Paul’s idea, and it’s a great way of ensuring meaningful practice, as it’s one less variable to contend with. I start with the backing knot in my hand (single handed) and gradually extend until the backing knot is just outside the tip ring. I then do 10 casting cycles, making sure the loops are good, and lay it down. I then try and pick up the whole head cleanly off the grass and do another 10 casting cycles, making sure everything is spot on, like using thrust to close up the front loop and make it tight. I haven’t been practicing for a few months, so getting back into it was tricky, but not impossible with this exercise. I restarted a couple of weeks ago, and had to tidy up the tracking, which went a bit wayward. Just trying to cast as far as you can doesn’t make you any better, working on carry and the delivery will, though.
Today was a nice low pressure day with a good bit of wind that was comfortable and manageable. It was also in one direction, and going straight down the nice piece of grass that I use for training. The line was a Ballistic Pro Performance, and the rod was a Sage Igniter 690-4, which is the one I use for fishing as well as casting. I brought out the ‘#10’ rod a couple of weeks ago, and found that my distances decreased, rather than increased. This is because I haven’t used it much, so I need to work with this rod to ensure I can get the best from it. My PB today was 132’ 3”, and I threw a lot of mid to high 120’s which I was quite pleased with. The key to the distance increase was really focusing on carrying that shooting head well (single handed) and making sure all of the subtle movements were finely tuned (haul, release timing, force application etc), oh, and being able to push my maximum carry into a tailwind, which really helped.
Tight lines everyone!